CEO of All In Together Lauren Leader and Social Welfare Professor Dr Mark Rank

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Lauren Leader, is the co-founder and CEO of All In Together. She has dedicated her life and career to advancing women in business and politics and has been a tireless advocate for diversity and inclusion.

In addition to her leadership of All In Together, Lauren was most recently senior advisor to Oliver Wyman, working with a wide range of global corporations on organizational and people challenges. Over the last decade, both in leading the global think tank Center for Talent Innovation where she was President and in her role at Deloitte, she focuses on helping large companies drive greater innovation and market growth given the implications of diversity, technology, geopolitics and demographic changes.

Lauren’s first book, Crossing the Thinnest Line (Hachette Center Street, September 2016) debuted in the top 50 on Amazon in several categories and sparked an important conversation about the importance of diversity to the future of America. Her research and writing on a wide array of talent and business issues has helped shape people strategy and the public discourse for the last decade. Her writing and thought leadership has appeared in a wide range of publications including Forbes, Harvard Business Review, New York Times, Bustle, Fatherly, Refinery29 and Inc.

Lauren is a frequent speaker, lecturer, and panel member at a wide array of conferences, conventions, academic meetings, investment forums, and other venues across North America and Europe including the Milken Global Conference, the World Economic Forum in Davos. She has been a regular commentator on MSNBC, HLN, Fox News and other outlets including CBS and Bloomberg TV where she addresses complex issues of women’s equality and diversity. She has been featured in Marie Claire, Cosmo, and Bustle.

In 2015 Lauren was listed as one of Fortune’s 50 Most Influential Women on Twitter and was a 2018 Presidential Leadership Scholar. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a graduate of Barnard College.

I spoke with Dr Mark Rank about his new book POORLY UNDERSTOOD: What Americans Get Wrong About Poverty

Dr. Rank is widely recognized as one of the foremost experts and speakers in the country on issues of poverty, inequality, and social justice. His research and teaching have focused on poverty, social welfare, economic inequality, and social policy. Dr. Rank has published numerous scholarly articles. His first book, Living on the Edge: The Realities of Welfare in America, explored the conditions of surviving on public assistance and achieved widespread critical acclaim. His 2004 book, One Nation, Underprivileged: Why American Poverty Affects Us All, provided a new understanding of poverty in America. His life-course research has demonstrated for the first time that a majority of Americans will experience poverty and will use a social safety net program at some point during their lives.

In 2014, extensive research with Dr. Rank's long-time collaborator, Thomas Hirschl of Cornell University culminated in the publications of Chasing the American Dream: Understanding the Dynamics that Shape Our Fortunes. This book explores the nature of the American Dream and the economic viability of achieving the Dream through both extensive data analysis and in-depth interviews with a wide spectrum of modern Americans. The book is designed to shed light on the tenuous nature of the American Dream in today’s society, and how to restore its relevance and vitality. 

Dr. Rank is the recipient of many awards including the Founders Day Distinguished Faculty Award from the Washington University Alumni Board of Governors, the Faculty Award to Improve Learning from the William T. Kemper Foundation, the Outstanding Research Award from the Society for Social Work and Research, the Feldman Award from the Groves Conference on Marriage and the Family, and the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Brown School’s Alumni Association.

Dr. Rank's research has been reported in a wide range of media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The Chicago Tribune, USA Today, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and National Public Radio.  He has provided his research expertise to members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as to many national and state organizations involved in issues of economic and social justice.

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